Ebony Escapes Year in review

Nestled between Panama City and Destin near the eastern end of Scenic Route 30-A on northwest Florida's Gulf Coast, Rosemary Beach, established in 1995, is a boutique, neo-traditional town encompassing a 107-acre community featuring 2,500 feet of frontage along the Gulf of Mexico. Named for the rosemary herb that grows wild in the area and which now frames the town's sandy paths, Rosemary Beach's developers desired to create a unique, welcoming and eco-friendly coastal town whose essence centered around the notions of community, neighborhood and convenience. (866) 348-8952, www.rosemarybeach.com

The four community pools--the Coquina Pool, Sky Pool, Barbados Pool and the Cabana Pool--are not your average community pools; rather they're fashioned like upscale resort pools, each with their own flavor and flair.

And let's not forget the beach itself, the community possessing boardwalks that lead to the nine dune walkovers to the beach with 2,500 feet of Gulf frontage brimming with beautiful white sand.

If you want to go a few miles down the road to try something different, there is YOLO Board, offering a hybrid stand-up paddleboard that combines traditional surfing with other related paddle sports such as kayaking and canoeing. The name YOLO is an acronym for "You Only Live Once," an apt motto for this medium that entices and challenges avid surfers and paddle sport enthusiasts, as well as inspires and engages more occasional recreational fans into something complete different. The general idea of stand-up paddling is that you gain a whole new point of view of whatever body of water you may be in, and the best part is that it is very, very easy, and everyone, from children to senior citizens to even the most "unathletic" among us, can do it! (850) 622-5760, yoloboard.com